CHOICE
by Melolo17
Summary: Closing that door was the hardest thing she ever had to do ...could she do this ?


He smiled in a very handsome way and leaned forward with a pleased expression. As his lips touched mine in a delicate way my eyes closed and all anger towards him was gone. My breath got caught in my throat and I released it through my nose with a content sigh. This was good . He , being the perfect gentlemen , wrapped his arms around my waist and deepened the kiss. Good luck to me trying to be mad at him.

His soft lips left mine and my world was incomplete once i knew the sweet heaven of his mouth , that whole feeling it gave me , that perfect thing in this non-perfect world.

As I recovered my breath I glared at him , trying to look at him as hateful as I could. How could he do this to me ? why put me through this ?

For the first time , maybe I was getting better at staring , guilt invaded his amazing features and he lifted my chin with a warm finger.

" I'm sorry , this clearly was not the best time to tell you how i feel "

I flinched away from his sweet breath and fidget with the hem of my wedding gown.

" no , not the best of times " suddenly my sandals were very interesting. Anything to keep me from looking at him.

" It's always been you , you know " he said half smiling.

That did it . He always knows what to say.

I raised my head and held his green gaze for a long time. Did he really mean that ? It always been me ? The idea of him loving me the away I recently realized I loved him , even thought I'm engaged to his best friend whom I was about to marry....was just too much. I shook my head as a red-haired boy entered my thoughts. The groom waiting at the altar.

" Ron " i whispered "....he deserves me to try and love him the way he loves me... "

He nodded slowly. " I always knew you didn't love me like I love you ...and Im not asking anything from you...but...I couldn't let you do this without you knowing how I feel... I don't like to think what could have been..."

I closed my eyes trying to stop the tears.

He kept going after a brief pause " I could only wish you a happy life with Ron...but I'm not staying to watch you guys get married...I can't..so tell him congratulations"

He closed the gap between us. He put a strand of my hair behind my ear. He gave me a kiss on the cheek. He whispered a pained goodbye and turned around walking towards the door. I didn't let him .

" you are so very wrong " I said a little bit harsher than I intended. I was still a bit dizzy from the kiss and dazzled by his closeness.

He turned around.

" I love you as much as you love me.... or more than that "

At first I thought he didn't listen to me , he froze as he stared . Then I noticed his fists were tight , his knuckles white and he was shaking.

He closed his eyes. He did that when he was trying to calm himself. Took a deep breath. he opened his eyes. beautiful green eyes.

" take that back...say we could only be friends because you don't love me more than that ....or i swear i wont go " he said never looking away from me with a pained expression.

" i love you " I whispered . I let my arms fall to my sides in a defeated way. I shrugged.

The bridal march song started playing on the background and I bit my bottom lip.

"always will " I said as I turned around and left him standing there looking at my retreating back. Closing that door was the most cruel thing I had done to myself.

Forbid myself happiness just to make someone happy. I could picture every little detail of Harry's last pained look and guilt invaded my stomach instead of the usual

nervousness of a girl about to get married.

" are you ready sweetie ? " I heard my dad whisper as he took my arm and dragged me to the double wooden doors of the church.

I nodded weakly , not able to speak from a lump growing in my throat. Could I do this ?

Movie-like the doors mysteriously opened and everyone inside the church stood up and smiled as I walked down the aisle.

Ron waited for me patiently in a clean white suit , his eyes sparkling , red hair wild and sexy with the sweetest smile on his face. As I got closer I was able to see the truth in his happiness and the glow

he had about him. He really loved me and I needed to be strong for him. I'm not quite sure how my face most have looked , I was feeling nauseous.

Ron took my arm clumsily from my father and nodded to him with another smile.

My father didn't exactly agree of Ron. He thought Ron did not care for me much deep down. He said he we fought too much and that Ron was much too immature

for someone like me , that he only loved the idea of Hermione , but not the real me. But my dad never forbid me anything . He always gave me his opinion

but he said besides that it was always my choice.

I wondered as my father nodded to Ron without a single hint of a smile what my father would do if it was Harry I was marrying.

I shook my head slightly. I couldn't think of Harry. Not if I wanted to go through this.

" Hermione ?" Ron whispered urgently " u okay ? "

I focused my eyes on him for the first time and I could see the worry in his face.

I gulped down and forced the best smile my lips could come up with .

" yeah , I'm ok "

Ron guided me to the altar without another question and gave me a quick peck before we kneeled before the priest.

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Harry stepped into McGonagal's office and smiled as the headmistress joyfully hugged him.

" my dear...I was wondering whether you'd come or not"

Harry frowned " what do you mean professor, you knew I'd come and visit"

" know what i meant... I know how difficult this day is for you , but you did the right thing"

Harry stared at her for a few seconds and gave a sigh , made no sense trying to deny it or trying to figure out how she knew the reasons behind his scape from the wedding.

"They are going to be happy and i wish them the best "

McGonagall nodded " i bet you do Harry , so , tell me , can i help you with anything ? "

Harry cleared his throat and bit back a smile , he knew the decision he took the minute he stepped out of the church was going to thrill his old teacher.

" I'm here because i want to teach "

McGonagal's jaw nearly dropped.

" Teach ?"

" yes minerva , Defense against the dark arts"

Mcgonagal stared at him , Harry knew she was not going to deny him the position as a teacher but there was something bothering her.

" the job is yours harry if you want it , but what I'm wondering dear is your motives behind such a drastic decision"

Harry knew she was looking right through him , but he didn't care , he needed a place to be away from it all and he really loved this place and all its teachers, it would even be a tribute to Dumbledore to follow in his steps until he was ready to move on , he simply smiled at Mcgonagal " let's just say several years ago a friend encouraged me to teach , and during that small period of time it felt wonderful to pass on my knowledge "

Mcgonagal looked a bit hesitant but gave Harry the biggest smile he had ever watch on her " Hogwarts will be pleased , it will be our honor to have you in our staff"

" Thank you minerva " Harry said standing up " now if you excuse i have to get settled in"

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Things moved way faster than he had ever thought . 2 hours ago he was losing her, forever , and now he was unpacking his trunk in one of the teachers chambers at Hogwarts. They had just welcome him at the sorting ceremony and everyone seemed dazed by his very presence in Hogwarts. He couldn't help but to feel happiness to see all those little faces full with wonder and respect when they looked at him. This was a much better idea than he had thought . Teaching was truly something he was looking forward to. He took a long bath , put on a t-shirt and jeans and headed towards the grounds.

He sat down by his favorite tree. The tree he , ron and hermione use to sit by doing homework or simply hanging out.

He have a sigh.

Could he stay away from her ?

Could he really destroy everything with Ron ?

He had thought it was something not to ponder. That he would NEVER come between his two best friends.

He knew deep down he could never do such a thing but the taste of that kiss with her just a few hours earlier was driving him mad.

The thought of never kissing her again, of never talking to her was

It started raining hard after a few hours but Harry layed on his back on the ground and closed his eyes as the rain hit his face in a soothing way.

Soon it started getting cold and Harry couldn't stop a nagging voice in the back of his minded which sounded an awful lot like hermione's telling him to get inside before he got sick. He didn;t want to listen to that voice , so he got up and walked back to his room.

He entered his room and took off his soaked t-shirt and threw it to a chair next to his bed.

As he looked around the for a fresh and clean towel he realized Hermione was there.

She was looking at him kind of laughing , still in her wedding dress, with ruined make-up and soaked hair.

To Harry she had never looked more beautiful. his heart stopped beating as she smiled at him.

He stood there rotten on the spot, afraid if he moved she would disappear.

After a minute of staring eachother she stood up and walked slowly towards him.

She stopped right in front of him and gave a sigh.

"I'm sorry"

Harry shrugged " Don't be "

He raised his eyes to her and saw she was tearing up. A tear escaped her eyes.

He felt such a urge to wrap his arms around her and make it go away. He was determined not to let her cry.

Harry closed the gap between.

" are you really here ? Am I dreaming ?" he whispered when she was closed enough that he could only see her face.

She was taken back by his closeness but smiled at him " you are not dreaming harry "

" are you sure ? " He said putting a strand of hair behind her ear " my dreams only come true when I'm dreaming "

Hermione laughed softly" And mine only come true when you're with me"

She wrapped her arms on his neck and pressed her lips to his.

In that moment , as Harry was feeling happiness as he had never felt Ron barged into the room.

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End file.
